Schools Can't Wait 'Til November

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Why is having a special election in June so important to Gov Brown and others?

The usual answer is about time and politics. The new budget year starts July 1, the same time that the temporary taxes that Brown wants extended would expire. And it would be much easier to convince voters to extend existing taxes than it would be to ask them to raise taxes in a November special election, which may be Brown's alternative if he can't get Republicans to go along with a June vote.

But there's another practical reason, as the Sacramento Beepoints out: the schools. School districts need money at the start of the school year in the late summer and early fall. Without temporary tax increases in June, big cuts are likely to ensure, school superintendents said on a visit to Sacramento this week.